Colman Domingo continues on his career high, entrenched in double-duty rehearsals for two shows he is excited about: The one-night-only Guys and Dolls benefit concert at Carnegie Hall April 3 and his upcoming turn as part of the Live Arts Festival celebrating the life, spirit and contributions of the writer James Baldwin. He has a new movie with Richard Gere and Ben Vereen in the works as well.

"It's a little crazy right now," the actor/playwright, who most recently starred in the hit movie "Lee Daniels' The Butler," told Playbill.com. "There's a lot going on."

Fresh off the heels of reprising his Tony-nominated role in London's Young Vic staging ofThe Scottsboro Boys, Domingo is back in the thick of things with his theatrical work — even if it's for a short spell.

Advertisement

He will join Bill T. Jones, Suzan-Lori Parks, STEW and many others for New York Live Arts' second annual Live Ideas festival: James Baldwin, This Time!, taking place April 23-27.

According to a spokesperson for the arts organization, the event will inaugurate "The Year of James Baldwin," a city-wide celebration running through 2015 celebrating the writer. As a playwright, the Harlem native's works The Amen Corner and Blues For Mister Charlie played on Broadway in 1964 and 1965, respectively. But it was his 1953 novel "Go Tell It On A Mountain" that made him well-known.

"I think James Baldwin is truly one of the most prolific writers, thinkers, essayists and playwrights that's a part of the American cannon of writers," Domingo said. "I think the writing community understands, that but I'm not quite sure people understand that as a society.

"He represents many things but this is a man that will go to battle and speak against the most conservative players and tell them who we are as a culture," he added. "I think he was way ahead of his time and the piece we're working on is going to blow people's minds because it's as if he could've been talking about how we are today, when it comes to race and politics and our humanity."